


You Are My Sunshine

by mikor1n



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, but still character death, not major character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-29
Updated: 2015-01-29
Packaged: 2018-03-09 13:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3251480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikor1n/pseuds/mikor1n
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing could have prepared Jean for this - Marco was supposed to be there forever. But he learned the hard way that forever doesn't exist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Are My Sunshine

"I am going to kill you, Marco Bott, if you don't get back up right this second--"  
Jean's words were thick with tears already, despite how much effort he put forth into keeping them at bay. Dammit, he was the one who was supposed to be strong right now.   
But there was nothing about holding Marco's limp body in his arms as he slowly bled from the stump that once was Marco's left leg. The dark-haired man was unconscious - there was no telling how long he'd been out for. The team had only just managed to fight off the last of the Titans, a feat all of its own.   
Jean couldn't find it in him to be proud, though. The one thing that gave him that stubborn pride that coursed through his veins was in his arms, bleeding to death. And there wasn't a thing that he could do about it. "Marco, you--"  
"I what, Jean?" The voice was weak, and in a way, Jean wished that he'd never heard it. Something about the obvious strain in Marco's voice made his heart ache.   
Jean's voice softened. "H-How are you feeling?" His own voice sounded foreign, even to himself. It held a slight tremble that he would have been ashamed of before. He willed it away - if not for the ability to remain strong in front of Marco, for the hope that he could convince himself that this wasn't happening. That he didn't have a reason to be afraid.   
A serene smile crosseed Marco's lips, and Jean immediately went rigid. Those calm sort of smiles weren't the kind of thing that he wanted to see. That was a bad sign, right? There was no reason that Marco shouldn't be writhing in pain, begging for Jean to do something, anything, about it. He had accepted something that Jean wouldn't even allow to reach the very furthest corners of his mind. "Don't make this as sad as we both know it's going to be, Jean," he said quietly, his body taking on a slight shiver. "You need to go, catch up with Eren and Mikasa. I'm sure they're all waiting for you."   
Jean's jaw clenched. He wanted to yell at Marco - how dare he have the nerve to be this calm when Jean felt as if the already desecrated shambles of his life were crumbling around him? "That's easy for you to say. You're not the one who has to leave someone here to die," Jean spat.   
But Marco was unphased. He was the only one who ever had to deal with Jean when he got like this - he must be used to it by now, Jean thought, especially given what the poor boy had gone through from Jean during their training. Marco was his buffer, and Jean had been convinced that was the way it would always be. Marco was his yin - the calm that kept Jean's turbulent yang in balance. "You don't want them to yell at you, do you?" he asked with a bemused smile. "Go on, Jean."   
Marco's eyelids fluttered closed, and Jean's heart leaped into his chest. "No, no, Marco-- Get up. Come with me. Come on, I'll help you. You have one good leg that you can use--"  
"Stop it." Marco's voice held the slightest edge, just enough of one to catch Jean's attention. Normally, that wasn't how it went - Jean was the one who commanded attention, who stood in charge. And Marco went along with it easily. "Please, Jean. Go. I... don't know if I can handle a goodbye. Not with you."   
Jean's eyes widened. A goodbye.... "What the hell's that supposed to mean? If anyone deserves a fucking goodbye from you, Marco, it's me!" Jean wasn't sure when he'd started crying, but after a moment, he noticed the teardrops dotting Marco's face. Marco flinched once, but didn't reach up to wipe them away.   
But what he did do was reach up and rest a hand on Jean's cheek. "I don't want to think about a goodbye with you. I never thought I would need to say goodbye to you. I thought... it would be the two of us always. I'm... in denial, I guess." Tears blurred Marco's vision, and his lower lip trembled. "I don't want to say goodbye to you. Please... please don't make me."   
Jean clamped a hand over his mouth, averting the other's gaze. He'd never liked Marco seeing him cry, but now... now he couldn't handle the thought of it. This wasn't something he should ever have to cry over. He shouldn't have to ever lose Marco. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Jean couldn't bring himself to move. He'd be damned if he was just going to leave Marco here to die, like so many of the others had.   
Surprisingly, it was Marco to speak up again. But rather than speak, he sang. His voice cracked, but he opened his eyes, gaze immediately catching Jean's. Jean's first instinct was to look away, but he repressed the urge, instead placing his hand over Marco's.   
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine... you make me happy when skies are grey...." Marco's voice cracked as he sang, the words only eliciting a muffled sob from Jean.   
"C'mon, Marco, don't do this...."  
"You'll never know dear... how much I love you."   
"I love you." Jean repeated the words - the words that he'd always wanted to say to Marco but had never grown the nerve to.   
"Please don't take my sunshine away." Jean sang the last line, the words more of a sob than anything else. It was his last ditch effort to beg whatever greater being was out there not to take his Marco away. He couldn't lose Marco now, not when he needed him so desperately. Not when he would need Marco this desperately for the rest of his life.   
"I love you, my sunshine," Marco whispered. That same serene smile fell across his lips, and Jean was entirely sure that he could physically see the light drain from his eyes.   
One last teardrop squeezed past Jean's eyelids, dropping onto Marco's cheek. "You'll never have to say goodbye, Marco Bott. I love you."


End file.
